Day 1 Recap: MHSAA Baseball State Championships

The Tigers would pound out 11 hits and chase Lewisburg ace starter Bryce Brock out in the third inning to get past the Patriots 9-4 in Game 1 of the Class 5A State Championship at Trustmark Park.

Game 2 is set for Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.

“We came out swinging the bats and certainly didn’t expect us to hit that well against that quality of a pitcher,” said Hattiesburg coach Joe Hartfield. “Brock is a great pitcher and we just had a good approach at the plate.”

Hattiesburg (25-10) would start the game scoring three runs and then score two runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings.

Ole Miss signee Joe Gray and Caleb Tart would have two hits each to lead the Tigers offensively.

Landon Rascoe (3-2) got the win on the mound for Hattiesburg by lasting four innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, walking four and striking out three.

“He gave us a quality start and threw strikes,” Hartfield said. “Its a long series. We have a good pitcher going Thursday and so do they, so it’ll be interesting.”

Lewisburg would score two runs in the bottom of the fifth off a two-run double by Jack Eldred and scored the third run off a RBI single by Austin Gentry in the sixth. Landon Rogers and Cooper Dowell each drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh.

Mississippi State signee Bryce Brock (11-1) took the loss on the mound lasting just two innings, giving up four hits, five runs (four earned), walking three and striking out one.

“Hattiesburg played well tonight and we didn’t. We weren’t aggressive early in the game,” said Lewisburg coach Rusty Cagle. “In these types of games you’ve got to attack and play hard and we waited too late.” On the other hand, Lawisburg’s team is excited to get one of the new custom baseball pins for their logo, they say the change will motivate them even more.

CLASS 3A

St. Andrew’s 4, North Pontotoc 3

The Saints scored two runs in the second and third innings to get past the Vikings in Game 1 of the MHSAA Class 3A State Championship series.

Game 2 will take place Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

“Got a lead early and after that we didn’t do much which is kind of disappointing with the opportunities we had,” said St. Andrew’s coach Mark Fanning. “I feel like both teams know we both can swing the bats better, but we feel good about our pitching.”

David DuCote would have two hits, including a RBI double in the third, to lead St. Andrew’s (32-6) offensively.

The key play of the game took place in the bottom of the sixth when North Pontotoc’s Ethan Dyer hit a RBI single to center, but St. Andrew’s Banks Tolley threw out the tying run at home for the final out of the inning.

“I thought he was going to catch it, but instead played it on a hop and threw a bullet to the plate,” Fanning said. “Each team battled, so we will see how Game 2 goes Thursday.”

Holland Townes (10-1) got the win on the mound for the Saints by lasting five and two-thirds innings, allowing seven hits, three runs (two earned), walking one and striking out eight.

Sam Roffwarg tossed the final inning and a third to get the save.

Ethan Dyer would have three hits to lead North Pontotoc, while Corley Hooper added two hits for the Vikings (25-6).

CLASS 1A

Nanih Waiya 13, Smithville 5

Nanih Waiya would score six runs in the fourth inning and tacked on five more in the sixth inning to get past the Seminoles in Game 1 of the Class 1A State Championship series.

Game 2 will be on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.

“We’re a team if you give us extra outs we do a pretty good job at taking advantage of those opportunities,” said Nanih Waiya coach Tyler Rogers. “We got guys that can run and can swing it well.”

Roper Ball had two hits and four RBI’s to lead Nanih Waiya offensively.

“Just seeing the ball well today, but thing for us is we can’t get complacent,” said Ball, a East Central CC signee. “We can’t come here and think we’re going to win. It happened to us last year and we lost, so we got to come ready.”

Bryce Stanton had three hits along with two RBI’s. Chris Smith, Coley Taylor and Jake Kight all had two hits for the Warriors (27-2).

“I told the guys we’ve been here before and we got to go back home and have two good days of practice,” Rogers said. “Roper is a really good player and has been clutch for us all year.”

Kight (8-0) got the win on the mound for Nanih Waiya by lasting four innings, giving up seven hits, five earned runs, walking two and striking out five.

Jared Johnson had three hits, including a two-run double in the fifth, to lead Smithville.

The Seminoles scored all five runs in the bottom of fifth.

Will McNeese and Cameron Wardlaw had two hits each for the Seminoles (20-11).